Christopher Caudwell
Christopher Caudwell is the pseudonym of Christopher St. John Sprigg (20 October 1907 - 12 February 1937), an English poet and a Marxist writer and thinker. Life He was born into a Catholic family living at 53 Montserrat Road, Putney district, south-west London. Educated at the Benedictine Ealing Priory School, Caudwell's formal education ended at the age of 15 when his father, Stanhope Sprigg, lost his job as literary editor of the Daily Express. Caudwell moved with his father to Bradford and began work as a journalist for the Yorkshire Observer. He found his own way to Marxism and set about rethinking everything in light of it, from poetry to philosophy to physics. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in Poplar in the East End of London. In December 1936 he drove an ambulance to Spain and joined the International Brigades once there, training as a machine-gunner at Albacete before becoming a machine-gun instructor and group political delegate. He also edited a wall newspaper. Caudwell was killed in action on 12 February 1937 during the first day of the battle of the Jarama Valley. His brother Theodore had attempted to have Caudwell recalled by the Communist Party of Great Britain by showing General-Secretary Harry Pollitt the proofs of Illusion and Reality. However, despite the myth that a recall telegram was sent but arrived after Caudwell's death, no telegram or other recall instruction was ever sent, which was an enduring source of bitterness for Theo. His marxist works were published posthumously. The first was Illusion and Reality (1937), an analysis of poetry. Publications as Christopher Caudwell Poetry * Poems. London: John Lane, Bodley Head, 1939; Lawrence & Wishart, 1965 *''Collected Poems'' (edited with an introduction by Alan Young), Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1986 Prose * This My Hand London: Hamish Hamilton, 1936 * Illusion and Reality London: Macmillan, 1937; with a biographical note by George Thomson, Berlin: Seven Seas; New York: International Publishers; London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1973 * Studies in a Dying Culture (with an introduction by John Strachey), London: John Lane, Bodley Head, 1938. * The Crisis in Physics (edited with an introduction by Hyman Levy), London: John Lane, Bodley Head,1939 * Further Studies in a Dying Culture (edited with a preface by Edgell Rickword), London: John Lane, Bodley Head, 1949. * The Concept of Freedom (selected chapters from Studies & Further Studies in a Dying Culture and The Crisis in Physics) London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1965. * Romance and Realism (edited with an introduction by Samuel Hynes), Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1970 * Studies and Further Studies in a Dying Culture (introduction by Sol Yurick, and previous introductions by John Stracey & Edgell Rickword), New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971 * Scenes and Actions (edited with an introduction by Jean Duparc and David Margolies), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986 as Christopher St. John Sprigg * 'Once I did think' (The ecstasy) The Dial, vol LXXXII, March 1927 * The Airship: Its Design, History, Operation and Future London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1931 *''Fly with Me: An Elementary Textbook on the Art of Piloting'' with Henry Davis, *London: John Hamilton, 1932 *''Crime in Kensington'' London: Eldon Press, 1933 *''Fatality in Fleet Street'' London: Eldon Press, 1933 *''British Airways'' London: Thomas Nelson, 1934 *''Pass the Body'' (US title of Crime in Kensington) New York: Dial Press, 1933 *''The Perfect Alibi''. London: Eldon Press, 1934 *''Death of an Airman'' London: Hutchinson, 1934 *''The Corpse with the Sunburnt Face'' London: Thomas Nelson, 1935 *''Death of a Queen'' London: Thomas Nelson, 1935 *''Great Flights'' London: Thomas Nelson, 1935 *''Let's Learn to Fly'' London: Thomas Nelson, 1937 *''The Six Queer Things'' London: Herbert Jenkins, 1937 Edited Uncanny Stories. London: Thomas Nelson, 1936 Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Dublin City University ''.Christopher Caudwell bibliography of works, Prof. Helena Sheehan, Dublin City University, DCU.ie, Web, Apr. 27, 2012. See also * List of British poets References External links ;Poems * Selected Poetry of Christopher Caudwell (1907-1937) (5 poems) at Representative Poetry Online. ;About *Christopher Caudwell Archive at the Marxists Internet Archive'' *''Christopher Caudwell'' by Helena Sheehan: an extract from Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History (Humanities Press: 1985, 1993). *Christopher Caudwell bibliography Category:1907 births Category:1937 deaths Category:British people of the Spanish Civil War Category:Communist Party of Great Britain members Category:English literary critics Category:English poets Category:Marxist journalists Category:Marxist writers Category:Military personnel killed in the Spanish Civil War Category:Old Priorians Category:People from Putney Category:Marxist poets Category:Communist writers Category:Communist poets